Wearable sensors with diagnostic capabilities

Researchers are developing intelligent medical sensors which can be worn by patients to monitor their symptoms and which will alert doctors if medical intervention is needed.

Share:

Total shares:

FULL STORY

Researchers at the University of Southampton are developing intelligent medical sensors which can be worn by patients to monitor their symptoms and which will alert GPs if medical intervention is needed.

Dr Koushik Maharatna at the University's School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and Professor John Morgan (University of Southampton School of Medicine) and Dr Nick Curzen at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust are part of a team working on the £18 million European-funded CHIRON project (Cyclic and Person-Centric Health Management: Integrated Approach for Home Mobile and Clinical Environment), which aims to combine state-of-the-art technologies and innovative solutions into an integrated framework, designed to enable more effective health management.

Over the first two years of the three-year project, Dr Maharatna and his colleagues will develop advanced ultra low-power signal processing algorithms and circuits embedded within the sensors to create intelligent medical sensors with decision-making capability. During the final year of the project, the team will then use the technology to test approximately 400 people (200 in Southampton and 200 in Rome) from a high-risk heart disease group.

"One of the major technical issues when we deploy these sensors is that they need to be wearable, low-power and work in noisy environments 24 hours a day," said Dr Maharatna. "Our task is to develop new ultra low-power algorithms and corresponding circuits, so that the technology will make it possible for a patient's GP to be alerted at any point of time through the patient's device if medical assistance is needed."

Aug. 1, 2015  After debuting the world's first solar air battery last fall, researchers have now reached a new milestone. They report that their patent-pending design -- which combines a ... read more

July 29, 2015  Using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid, researchers have developed a new capacitor dielectric material that provides an ... read more

July 31, 2015  As the demand grows for ever smaller, smarter electronics, so does the demand for understanding materials’ behavior at ever smaller scales. Physicists are building a unique ... read more

July 31, 2015  Nanoscale worlds sometimes resemble macroscale roller-coaster style hills, placed at the tip of a series of hexagons. Surprisingly, these nanohills stem from the self-organization of particles -- the ... read more

July 31, 2015  Precise targeting biological molecules, such as cancer cells, for treatment is a challenge, due to their sheer size. Now, scientists have proposed an advanced solution that can potentially be applied ... read more

July 30, 2015  The behavior of fruit flies, which are commonly used in laboratory experiments, is altered by electric fields, new research shows. The research indicates that the wings of the insects are disturbed ... read more

Jan. 30, 2015  New wearable sensor networks and mobile phone applications are being tested for their potential to monitor and manage patients with Parkinson’s disease. The research aim is the usage of low-cost ... read more

Aug. 19, 2014  A new type of sensor that can monitor body movements and could help revolutionize healthcare is described in a new study. "These sensors are extraordinarily cheap compared to existing ... read more